Bigz L Milk Carton die | The Maui Stamper

Those crazy jeans from the Patterned Occasions SAB stamp set have me cracking up!

How cute is this? Did you notice that jeans ribbon on the top – YES it is Stampin’ Up! ribbon!! I needed a “gender-neutral” favor and jeans were the answer. The background on the Milk Carton is the new Beyond Plaid set from the Spring catalog and it was easy to stamp on each panel. I didn’t bother lining it up and I don’t think it matters.

The little bit of embossing on the top was a last minute whim. I just folded the milk carton in half and put the top portion in the embossing folder and zipped it through the Big Shot. The milk carton is the perfect size for small individual candies like M&M’s or jelly beans, but it also holds bigger things like the fun size bars or Hershey Kisses.

Confession: I finally bought the Milk Carton die for myself. I kept borrowing it when I needed it but it was time to grow up and get my own. Can’t believe I waited so long.

What are you waiting for? It’s Sale-a-bration and that die will get you pretty doggone close to earning the Patterned Occasions stamp set!

Cardinals are nest builders, not house dwellers, but if your imagination can tolerate a little stretching I think you’ll enjoy this:

Vintage Vogue and I {Heart Hearts} stamp sets
Naturals White, Soft Suede, Real Red, Mellow Moss, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke card stock
Real Red, Soft Suede and Always Artichoke Classic ink pads
Black Stampin’ Write Journaler and White Gel pen
Big Shot and Bigz L Milk Carton die
Two Step Bird, Heart to Heart and Scallop Edge punches
Stampin Sponges, Sponge Daubers, Tombo adhesive and Stampin’ Dimensionals

I need to send you to see two special ladies to thank them for their part in this project. The first is the Amazing Kim Bolzenthal, who generously sent me a RAK of pre-cut milk cartons. If you know Kim at all, you’ll know she is a thoughtful, giving person who has a passion for stamping and stampers. Please leave her a comment and tell her how fabulous she is!

The second person I’d like you to visit is Marie whose charming Goldfinch Birdhouses were my direct inspiration for this project. I loved her concept and tweaked it just a little to suit my purposes, but she’s the genius behind the design and she deserves the credit. Please leave her a comment and let her know how brilliant she is!

The cardinal and the little heart are both attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals, but the heart is so small I snipped off a little piece from the strip around the edge of the dimensionals.

Here’s the 411 on the cardinal’s face: It’s a pain in the, um, tailfeathers but I think it makes a big difference. After you punch the bird’s body in Real Red, go back and insert a right angle corner of black cardstock into the face portion of the punch at the beak. The farther in you insert that black corner, the bigger your mask will be. Punch it and set it someplace you can find it, because it’s not very big. Do the same thing with a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, but only insert that corner in to the point where it makes a tiny diamond shape with the beak. Punch this very carefully, because as soon as you punch it is so small it will disappear into the litter on your workspace. Take a pair of tweezers (yep, I really did that) and use a teeny tiny dot of Tombo to put the Pumpkin Pie beak on the Black mask. Use a tiny dot of Tombo to attach the mask to the cardinal’s face and use a white gel pen to add an eye.

Go ahead – give it a try – you can do it!